Windows Vista service pack stand-alone packages do not contain the updated Windows Vista Help files

This article describes various scenarios in which you must manually install the updated Help files package for Windows Vista service packs. You must manually install the Help files because the Windows Vista service pack stand-alone packages do not contain the updated Windows Vista Help files.

Update information

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:


Download the Update for Windows Vista (KB937286) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=dd4affa2-f435-4c42-82da-110948c001c1)

Download the Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB937286) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=59d5ab79-e0a9-434c-914e-54da43f37b0b)

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

The stand-alone packages of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 do not contain the updated Windows Vista SP1 Help files.

The updated Windows Vista Help file packages are named "Update for Help Files." These files are packaged separately for each language.

The updated Help files have been excluded from the stand-alone packages to reduce the size of the packages. However, the updated Windows Vista Help files are contained in the retail and OEM versions of Windows Vista that include a service pack. Therefore, if you perform a clean installation of a version of Windows Vista that includes a service pack, you do not have to add an updated Help file.

The following list describes various scenarios in which you must manually install the "Update for Help Files" package to obtain the updated Windows Vista Help files:

• You install Windows Vista service packs on a computer that is running the release version of Windows Vista by using Windows Update or by using a Microsoft Update Standalone (MSU) package for Windows Vista.
• You have a Windows Vista Enterprise SKU installed or a Windows Vista Ultimate SKU installed, and then you install a new language by using the language packages.
  
  In this scenario, you must manually install the updated Help file because the "Update for Help Files" package uses the language that corresponds to the content language. Packages of "Update for Help Files" are language specific. For example, you cannot install the German version of the "Update for Help Files" package on a Windows Vista-based computer unless that computer already has the German language installed.
• You remove a language package from a Windows Vista-based computer after you install the "Update for Help Files" package for that language pack that you removed.
  
  In this scenario, the "Update for Help Files" packages are automatically removed.

You can download the MSU package for the "Update for Help Files" package through the Microsoft Download Center. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Additionally, the same updates will be released through Windows Update for all languages. However, the "Update for Help Files" packages are built under the same Microsoft Knowledge Base article number, KB 937286. Therefore, if a system has more than one language installed and also has the corresponding "Update for Help Files" packages installed, Windows Vista Software Explorer displays multiple entries of KB 937286. Additionally, the title of the package will not display the language of the package.

Information about how to verify the "Update for Help Files" package installation for IT administrators and for OEM partners

You can determine whether the "Update for Help Files" package has been installed on computer for a specific language version. To do this, examine the following directory: The "Update for Help Files" packages for specific languages include the language or region code in the file name. For example, the update package file name for the English-US version of 32-bit Windows Vista is windows6.0-kb937286-x86-en-us.msu. In this file name, "en-us" is the language or region code. The following is a typical path of the Help file directory: Note This example uses the English-US region.

If all the files in the directory have a modification date of November 2, 2006, the Help file update package has not been installed for that language or region. If 90% of the files in the directory have a modification date of January 18, 2008, the Help file update package has been installed for that language or region.